Police in Egypt want to create a computer system that monitors social media

Police in Egypt want to build a computer system that helps them track what the country’s citizens are discussing on social media. To do this, police are considering proposals from seven unnamed international companies to help them monitor messages of government dissent, calls to protest or strike, immoral or obscene behavior and anything that advocates crime or terrorism, according to a recently leaked document. Multiple reports say Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim believes the system would not affect freedom of expression.

Egypt’s police force is seeking to build a surveillance system to monitor social media for expressions of dissent – including profanity, immorality, insults and calls for strikes and protests. According to a leaked document in which technology companies are invited to offer their services, Egypt’s interior ministry says it wants the ability to scan Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Viber in real-time for usage that might “harm public security or incite terrorism”. The ministry asks the unnamed companies for a system that could dredge up “vocabulary which is contrary to law and public morality”. According to the document, this would include “degrading and acerbic ridicule; slander; insult; the use of profanity”, incitement of “extremism, violence and rebellion … demonstrations, sit-ins and illegal strikes”; and “pornography and decadence; immorality and debauchery, and the publication of ways to manufacture explosives”.